The threat at the moment force was used

Garner rejects deadly force merely to stop every fleeing suspect and centers the analysis on probable cause to believe the person poses a threat of serious physical harm. Graham requires objective reasonableness from the on-scene perspective. The facts may include whether a weapon was visible, how it was held, commands and opportunity to comply, distance, cover, movement toward or away from others, the suspected offense, and whether the officer reasonably perceived an immediate threat.

The review must account for every shot and every material change. A first shot may be evaluated differently from later shots if the person falls, drops an object, moves behind cover, or no longer presents the same threat. Conversely, hindsight cannot erase information reasonably known to the officer. The analysis should distinguish facts shown by the record from disputed perceptions that require credibility findings.

Preserve native body-camera and dashboard-camera files, security video, 911 calls, dispatch audio, computer-aided dispatch data, photographs, scene diagrams. Include shell-casing locations, weapons, fingerprints or DNA testing, trajectory work, firearm examinations, autopsy or treatment records and witness interviews. File metadata and dispatch clocks may need reconciliation before treating timestamps as exact.

A frame-by-frame video review should not become a silent-film exercise. Audio, low light, lens distortion, camera position, motion blur, obstruction, and the officer's field of view all matter. Physical evidence may confirm or contradict a claimed location or sequence, while ballistics rarely answers by itself what an officer perceived. A qualified expert should state the limits of the discipline as well as any opinion.

An individual claim requires personal participation and must confront qualified immunity using precedent at the appropriate level of factual specificity, unless the alleged violation is obvious under governing law. A supervisor is not liable solely by title. A failure-to-intervene theory depends on awareness and a realistic opportunity to act. Officers who did not fire may have different evidence and defenses.

A Monell claim requires proof that a city or county policy, custom, qualifying policymaker act, or deliberately indifferent training failure caused the violation. Prior shootings may be relevant only if sufficiently similar and connected to notice and causation. Potential relief depends on the proper plaintiff, survival or wrongful-death law, causation, and supported loss. No family relationship or tragic outcome alone establishes standing or a damages category.